UMass Dartmouth football blanked by Plymouth State

Sunday

Sep 27, 2009 at 12:01 AM

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Visiting Plymouth State scored three times in the first 14 minutes and went on to defeat UMass Dartmouth on Saturday at Cressy Field. It was the New England Football Conference Boyd Division opener for both teams.

STAFF REPORT

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Visiting Plymouth State scored three times in the first 14 minutes and went on to defeat UMass Dartmouth on Saturday at Cressy Field. It was the New England Football Conference Boyd Division opener for both teams.

"Plymouth State is a very good football team," UMD coach Mark Robichaud said. "They made it to the NCAA Tournament last year, and I think they're a better team this year. We stepped up and played better defense in the second half, and Brendan McNeish came in at quarterback and made some nice decisions. Our biggest job now is to keep our kids positive, upbeat, and working. They're a great group of kids, and that's what I talked to them about after the game."

Plymouth State quarterback J.J. Brooks was picked off by John Cordasco on the game's opening drive, but the junior bounced back with first-quarter touchdown passes to John Creamer and Alex Smith, and Chris Francher's 64-yard touchdown run gave the Panthers (2-1, 1-0) a 21-0 lead after one period.

Brooks connected with Sean Simpson for a 51-yard touchdown with two minutes to go in the first half, and James Dionne capped the scoring with a 31-yard run in the third quarter.

The Corsairs had there best scoring chance on the next possession, driving to the Panthers' 5-yard line. But they were forced to try a field goal, and Edgar Osols' kick was no good.

Brooks was 3-for-7 for 94 yards, with all three completions going for touchdowns.

John Marsh led UMD (0-4, 0-1) with 70 yards on 17 carries, and Shawn Manning had 10 tackles. The Corsairs travel to MIT on Saturday.

UMD scored twice in the final 25 minutes to beat UMass Boston, 3-2, in a Little East Conference match at the UMass Dartmouth Athletic Complex.

New Bedford High alums had a hand in the tying and game-winning goals for the Corsairs (6-1-0, 1-1-0). Former Whaler Alex Bettencourt scored on a Giuliano Basile to even the score, and New Bedford's Jacob Borges set up Kyle Lopes' game winner, the second-straight for the midfielder.

"I thought we played well, and we controlled the action most of the time," UMD coach Henry Almeida said. "We rallied, and it was good to see that we can come from behind and win. We got the result that we needed."

The Corsairs host Connecticut College on Tuesday.

Visiting Western Connecticut State won five of the six doubles matches and defeated UMD, 6-3, in a Little East Conference match at the UMass Dartmouth Athletic Complex.

The Corsairs (4-2, 3-1) built a 2-1 lead after doubles behind wins from Amy Lopes and Courtney Morey at No. 1 and Blair Dalrymple and Juliet Levangie at No. 3, but Levangie earned the Corsairs' only singles victory.

"After we won the two doubles, I thought we were in good shape, but Western Connecticut is an excellent team," UMD coach Ralph Perry said. "We had some great matches, Juliet won at sixth singles, but they played well, and they deserved to win today. Our doubles performed well, but Western Connecticut has a strong singles lineup, and it showed today."

UMD visits Worcester State on Tuesday.

UMD scored twice in the final 14 minutes and blanked visiting Westfield State, 3-0, in a Little East Conference match at Cressy Field.

Stephanie Kinchla scored the first two goals for the Corsairs (4-4, 2-1 LEC). She took a pass from junior defender Kate Dorrance off a penalty corner and tapped it home for the only score of the first half, and made it 2-0 on a Maille Lynch-Gilbert assist with 13:44 remaining. Taryn Cardiel scored her first goal with 29 seconds to play on a pass from Kellie Finn.

"After five games in a row on the road, today we had everything in place," UMD coach Nicole Castonguay said. "We worked a ton on attack corners and we had a ton of those today. We worked a ton on backfield defense, we were super-organized, we played as a team, and that's why we won."

Bishop Stang alum Seana Golden made two saves to earn the shutout. The Corsairs host Fitchburg State on Wednesday.

The first time was the charm for UMD when they played at Elms in a non-conference match.

The Corsairs (9-2), who were meeting the Blazers for the first time ever in volleyball, downed Elms in four games, 25-14, 25-10, 20-25 and 25-13.

Allie Mastrocola led the Corsairs with 13 kills and Eleni Tsaparakis added 10. New Bedford's Jessica Goncalves had 32 assists, Shannon Brodie had 10 digs, and sophomore middle blocker Cami Ascher had three blocks and nine kills while hitting .600.

"It's nice to go into a gym and have one of the other coaches tell you that you are as good as anyone they've played," UMD coach Steve DeRossi said. "We played smart, we played with energy, and we knew that we didn't want to make a whole bunch of errors. We were able to get everyone in off the bench, we played solidly all the way, and everyone contributed."

The Corsairs will travel to Pine Manor on Tuesday.

Jamie Leden came off the bench to score the Corsairs' lone goal in a loss at UMass Boston.

Jen Warren made seven saves for UMD, which hosts Fitchburg State on Tuesday.

UMD is tied for 10th place in a 21-team field after the first day of play in their first golf tournament of the fall 2009 season, Middlebury's Duke Nelson Invitational at the par-71 Ralph Myhre Golf Course.

The Corsairs shot a team score of 323, tying them with Tufts for 10th. They are one shot behind Babson and two strokes ahead of Western New England. Williams is in first place at 307.

Lakeville's Rob Leaver led UMD with a 78, Scott Woodacre shot an 80, Westport's Nick Jagoe shot an 81, Conor O'Malley shot an 84 and Mattapoisett's John Coucci came in at 87.

"It's our first tournament of the year, and it was good to get our feet wet," UMD coach Joel Baptista said. "I was very pleased with Rob's round today. Except for a two-hole snag, he was exceptional. It was good for Conor and John to get their first collegiate experience under their belts. We'll go out tomorrow and see if we can pick up some strokes."

UMD's men's cross country team finished eighth out of 16 teams and the women were 10th in a 15-team field at the Connecticut College Invitational at Harkness Memorial State Park.

The women scored 299 points, 10 points behind Saint Anselm and eight points ahead of Pace. Brandeis finished first with 56 points. The men scored 190 points, nine in back of Rensselaer and four ahead of Coast Guard. Tufts was first with 48 points.

Nick Santoro was the top finisher for the men in the five-mile race, finishing 11th in 25:51, while Dartmouth's Jeremy Francisco was 47th in 26:45. For the women, Caitlin McGarrigal led the way, finishing the six kilometer race in 30th place with a time of 24:10.

"The men ran well, although they looked a little tired," UMD coach Jon Hird said. "The women also looked a little tired. Both teams put a lot into our invitational meet last week, and they looked a little drained. For the men, Steve Burke really stepped up to the plate today, running a personal best for five miles. It will be good to take next week off after competing for three weeks in a row."

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